Clergy sex victims challenge new Cincy archbishop

Catholic priest just arrested for molesting a boy in WV

Self help group calls case 'Schnurr's first real test here'

He should insist that religious order be 'open', SNAP says

Group prods victims & witnesses to 'protect others, call police'

It suspects others here may have 'seen or suffered' cleric's crimes

"Don't call church officials," victims plead. "Call police & prosecutors instead"

What:
Holding signs and childhood pictures at sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will urge Cincinnati's new Catholic archbishop to
--reveal when he and his staff learned about child sex allegations against a recently-accused predator priest,
--insist that the cleric's direct supervisors explain why they kept silent for 7 months about the case, and
--aggressively reach out to anyone with knowledge of the allegations against the priest.

They will also urge anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered the predator's crimes to speak up, call police, protect others and start healing.

When:
Thursday, Feb. 4th, 10:30 a.m.

Where:
Outside Cincinnati Archdiocese Chancery, 100 East Eighth Street, (corner of Walnut and E.8th St.) in Cincinnati, Ohio

Who:
Two clergy sex abuse victims who belong to a self help group called SNAP, (the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org)

Why:
Yesterday, news media reported that Fr. Robert F. Poandl of Cincinnati was indicted last month for allegedly sexually abusing a 10 year old boy in 1991 at Holy Redeemer Catholic parish rectory (304-927-2013) in Spencer, WV. Poandl belongs to a Fairfield-based religious order called the Glenmarys and has been transferred, SNAP says, suspiciously often over his career.

According to news reports, the victim reported his abuse in June 2009. Yet officials with the Glemarys and the Ciincinnati archdiocese kept silent about the accusations until now.

SNAP contends that Catholic staff should have disclosed the allegations months ago, and by keeping quiet, knowingly put more kids at risk of being abused. The secrecy also gave Poandl and other church workers time to intimidate victims, threaten witnesses, destroy evidence, and fabricate alibis, SNAP says. The group feels the church hierarchy's silence also violates the national church sex abuse policy which allegedly mandates "openness" in clergy sex cases.

The controversy presents newly-installed Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr with what SNAP calls "the first real test of his leadership here." Many bishops refuse to take responsibility for religious order clerics in their dioceses, which SNAP considers callous hairsplitting. SNAP says Schnurr should disclose when his staff first learned of the allegations against Poandl, should publicly blast the Glenmary for its secrecy, and should use his archdiocesan website, newspaper and parish bulletins to urge other victims and witnesses to contact law enforcement immediately.

According to Internet sources, Poandl is originally from Metuchen NJ and worked in Oklahoma, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Kentucky. He attended seminaries in Indiana and Mexico.

The Roane County grand jury indicted Poandl on Jan. 26.

SNAP is also holding a similar news conference Thursday in Charleston, WV about the case.

Contact:
Dan Frondorf, SNAP Cincinnati Director 513-706-7403
Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director 636-433-2511
David Clohessy, SNAP National Director 314-566-9790
Mike Lewis, SNAP Charleston Director 304-932-5913